Repercussions: Part 1
by Elianna22
Summary: SEQUEL to "Just One of the Guys." What happens when another crazy plan goes awry at Seven Seas High? Zack x Bailey, Cody x London, Woody x Addison. Chapter 11: A big decision. COMPLETE
1. Ch 1: Welcome Aboard the SS Spencer!

**A/N: The idea for this story began when tiger002 asked if I was going to incorporate the teen cruise crossover into **_**Just One of the Guys**_**. It was originally going to be a one-shot epilogue, but snowballed into a two-part sequel. Part 1 begins three months after the end of **_**Just One of the Guys**_** with Justin and Alex Russo arriving for the teen cruise to Hawaii over Spring Break 2009. What—and **_**whom**_**—will the wizards discover on deck?**

**The CP/BF and I gratefully acknowledge woundedhearts for her sensitive, insightful input. We have plenty of others to thank along the way.**

**Disclaimer: All characters from the **_**Suite Life**_** series and **_**Wizards of Waverly Place**_** belong to Disney.

* * *

**

**Prologue/Chapter 1: "Welcome Aboard the **_**S.S. Spencer**_**!"

* * *

**

"Hawaii, here I come!" Alex Russo shouted as she and her brother Justin exited the World Cruise Ship Terminal at the Port of Los Angeles, boarding passes and carry-on bags in hand. "This teen cruise is going to be so much more fun than a trip to the Caribbean with Mom, Dad, and Max." Sixteen-year-old Alex could barely contain her excitement as the Pacific breeze blew out her long black hair and midday sunlight broke through the smog overhead.

"Uh... you're welcome?" prompted Justin. When Alex didn't respond, he continued, "This is going to be the best spring break ever. I can't wait to check out the marine paleontology exhibit on board!"

_Seventeen going on 70_, reflected Alex for what felt like the zillionth time. The line of cruise-goers in front of them ground to a halt and she took her first look at the 15-deck luxury cruise ship docked at Berth 93. Alex could hardly believe this floating paradise would be her playground for the next week. But something about it looked strange.

"Justin, are you sure we're in the right line?" she asked. "I thought the ship was called the _S.S. Tipton_, not the _S.S. Spencer_."

Justin rolled his eyes, a very familiar gesture. "Alex, weren't you listening when I read out that letter last week?"

"Letter?"

"The one that explained how the teen cruise to Hawaii is still going ahead even though Tipton Cruise Lines is under new management?"

That was all Alex needed to hear. She automatically tuned out Justin and scanned the crowd for cute boys who might also be on the teen cruise. The next thing she heard her brother say was, "And that's how Tipton Industries' assets got frozen"—which meant absolutely nothing to her. Justin knew a lot of stuff about stuff that people really didn't care about.

The line began to move again, and the two wizards-in-training walked up the gangway.

A small energetic-looking man in a captain's suit and knee-high white socks bounded over to them as soon as they stepped into the lobby on the Main Deck. "Ah, the Russos!" he greeted them warmly. "Our contest winners from New York." He reached up to shake hands with each of them. "Welcome aboard the _S.S. Spencer_! I'm Spencer Moseby, CEO of Spencer Worldwide Travel and your cruise ship director. In other words, the big man around here!" His gleeful expression made Alex giggle.

"Nice to meet you," said Justin formally. "I'm Justin Russo, author of the winning entry in the essay contest, and this is my sister Alex."

"It's _wonderful_ to have you both on board. And now, if you'll follow me, your cabin awaits." The sprightly African American man led them to a glassed-in elevator at the centre of the Main Deck.

"Woah!" exclaimed Alex and Justin in unison when Spencer opened the door to their "cabin" on the tenth deck. Before them lay a sumptuous suite, bigger than their apartment over the Russo family's sandwich shop on Waverly Place in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. It had two king-sized beds, polished mahogany furniture, a state-of-the-art entertainment centre, four skylights, and a stunning view of the ocean.

Spencer grinned charmingly. "Nothing but the best cabin for our contest winners," he assured them. "What did you expect?" he asked with a chortle. "That we'd stick you in the infirmary?"

The wizards just stared at their home for Spring Break. They hadn't known what to expect.

"Well, I'll let you two get settled in," Spencer continued pleasantly. "If you need anything—anything at all—don't hesitate to call me on my own personal phone. Enjoy!" He placed a business card on the desk and turned to leave.

Justin snapped to attention. "My contest winner's package said I'd get a photo op with London Tipton," he said anxiously. "Is she still onboard?"

Spencer gave a hearty laugh. "Of course she is! In fact, Miss Tipton is right upstairs at the Easy Squeezy smoothie bar." He glanced at his watch. "If you go now, you can catch her before her shift ends." And with that he left.

"Let's go, we can unpack our stuff later." Justin wore a puzzled but eager expression. "You know how much I've always wanted to meet London Tipton."

What Alex really wanted to do was bounce on one of the huge plush beds. However, Spencer's parting words had intrigued her. _Why was London Tipton, the hotel heiress who was famous for doing absolutely nothing, working at a smoothie bar? _

But first things first. Alex took a few moments to admire her reflection in the gold-framed mirror on the wall. In her knee-length denim shorts, pink tank top, and multi-coloured paisley tunic with a black mesh v-neck, she looked pretty stylish. Justin looked significantly less cool in a short-sleeved grey plaid shirt and grey jeans, but that was nothing out of the ordinary.

As if reading her thoughts, Justin glared at her from the doorway. "Come _on_, Alex, let's go already!"

Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Alex appraised herself one last time and concluded she was ready for whatever this teen cruise had to offer. The cabin door slammed shut.

"Coming, brother dear," she called and ran to catch up with Justin.

[***]

The wizards soon found themselves outside a game room on the Sky Deck. "I told you we got off on the wrong deck," Justin grumbled as he consulted a layout of the ship posted by the elevators.

"Whatever." Alex walked over to the nearby railing. Sights and sounds of Spring Break revelry surrounded them. After tainting her slacker reputation to catch up on 14 missed school assignments, Alex couldn't wait to have fun again. The boys-against-girls tug-of-war game on the deck below would be a good way to start. She knew exactly how to cheat at tug-of-war and never passed up the chance to humiliate boys. In fact, if she hadn't left her wand inside her bag back in the cabin, she would have seriously considered whisking herself down to where the action was.

As she turned to see if Justin had finished scrutinizing the map, another Pacific breeze stirred her hair. This time a chill ran through her, along with the same sensation of strangeness that she'd felt upon first seeing the ship.

"Justin..." she began, wondering how to explain this to her brother.

Justin joined her. "I know, I feel it, too," he said. While the two eldest Russo siblings antagonized each other on a daily basis, they could be completely in sync when they wanted to be. "Something weird is going on here," he pronounced. Exactly what Alex was thinking.

They both looked down and this time a familiar face stood out. A beautiful Asian girl in a light green t-shirt slouched behind the counter of the Easy Squeezy smoothie bar. She wore a deep, disgruntled scowl.

"It's London Tipton!" exclaimed Justin.

A sense of urgency overtook Alex. "This way!" She chose a random direction and pulled Justin with her. They navigated through the crowds until they reached a staircase and quickly arrived on Deck 13.

"How do I look?" Justin asked, smoothing back his dark hair nervously. He'd never been very confident around girls. Alex had once rewound the same few minutes 18 times so that he could _finally_ have his first kiss with a goth girl named Miranda without screwing it up.

"Fine! Now go." Alex pushed Justin toward the smoothie bar so he could meet his idol. She herself ran over to a girl in black leggings and a purple Brooklyn Bridge t-shirt who was looking for a partner for the next tug-of-war round. Later, when she tried to explain to Justin what had drawn her to the red-haired teen, what she remembered most were the distinctly odd vibes the girl gave off and her very cool t-shirt.

"I'll play!" Alex announced and grabbed the rope. Spectators cheered as both sides began to tow in earnest. However, the girls were a questionable match for the pair of athletic guys on the other side of the foam pool between the two teams.

"We're slipping, we're slipping," Alex's teammate worried.

"Spit on the floor," Alex instructed, revving her spit glands. She released a massive, gummy spitball. "Rub your shoes in it."

The girl obeyed—and the spit worked, as Alex had known it would. With the soles of her flip-flops and the girl's sneakers sticking firmly to the deck, they were able to haul their opponents into the foam. The cheers grew louder and the two girls congratulated themselves and each other with a simultaneous, satisfied "Ha! Owned!"

"Thanks," bubbled the red-haired girl to Alex. "That was _so_ much fun!" Up close, two inches of brown roots were visible. Alex pitied her instantly. In New York nobody let their roots show unless they were being ironic. "And best of all," the girl bubbled on, "we just won tickets to the Hannah Montana concert in Hawaii. I _love_ Hannah Montana!"

Alex, who was most definitely not a Hannah Montana fan, decided that a change of plans was in order. Plus she could see a beaming Spencer Moseby walking toward them. The sense of urgency grew stronger. Now was not the time to draw more attention to herself.

"I can get us Hannah Montana tickets," she confided and steered the girl toward the smoothie bar.

"You can?" the girl gasped, as a rowdy group of Spring Break guests conveniently bustled onto the deck, hiding them from Spencer's view.

"Yeah, no problem." Alex may not have memorized as many spells as Justin had, but she did have a knack for making up simple spells when the need presented itself. "I really like your t-shirt," she added quickly, to avoid more questions. "I'm from New York and I love shopping in Brooklyn."

Sadness shadowed the girl's brown eyes. "Thanks," she said. "It was a late Christmas present."

Alex also sensed dating trouble, one of her many areas of advice expertise. "Let's chat," she said conspiratorially. "I'll order us some smoothies."

London Tipton and Justin were nowhere in sight, and a guy whose nametag said "Fred" was now serving customers.

"I'm Bailey Pickett," the girl introduced herself once Fred had given them each a Super-Sized Spring Break Slushie. She held out her hand to Alex. "What's your name?"

"I'm..." Alex pasted on her favourite mysterious smile as she accepted the handshake. "...Girl _you_ don't know."

Bailey seemed taken aback. "Oh," she said and shifted on her barstool as though she might be about to get up and leave.

Alex realized she would need to backtrack if she wanted to win the girl's confidence. Abandoning her aloof act, she took a seat next to Bailey. When Bailey moved her left elbow to the counter, Alex did the same with her right elbow. "This slushie is really awesome," she enthused.

"Can you believe I didn't even know what a smoothie was before I started at Seven Seas High here on the ship?" Bailey crossed her legs. "I'm from a little town in Kansas called Kettlecorn. If you blink while passing through it, you'll find yourself caught up in the hustle and bustle of Kettlepod."

Geography did not interest Alex. Crossing her own legs, she asked, "There's a high school on this ship? What's _that_ like?" She wondered if her parents would consider sending her to high school on a cruise ship. Studying biology among real whales and penguins might actually motivate her—at least more than Mr. Laritate's stuffy lectures at Tribeca Prep.

"It's fun," Bailey told her. "Most of the time." Again, sadness flickered across her pretty features.

Alex leaned in slightly. "So... why don't you tell me what's going on?" she asked as casually as she could. She knew from experience that if she acted like something she wanted would happen, it usually did.

Just as spitting had for tug-of-war, these tiny actions did the trick. "Well," said Bailey, twisting the butterfly barrette in her hair, "it all started with the best of intentions..."

* * *

**A/N: On my recent trip to New York City, I visited Waverly Place and the neighbourhood is exactly the way it's depicted on **_**Wizards of Waverly Place**_** (although I didn't see any street fairs or flying dogs :). A few other New York locations will appear in the sequel. Also, this story will be posted in the regular Suite Life forum because most of the chapters focus on the Suite Life gang. Please read and review and let me know what you think of this start. Thanks so much, you guys! Xoxoxo – Ellie**


	2. Ch 2: Wanna Be StarCrossed Lovers?

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews to Chapter 1. So many questions requiring so many answers... :) This chapter brings us back to mid-January 2010, two weeks after the end of **_**Just One of the Guys**_**. It will touch on various events that happened in the first story (as will a few other chapters) and add some additional insights.

* * *

**

**Chapter 2: "Do You Wanna Be Star-Crossed Lovers?"

* * *

**

"Hey, Zailey. Hey, Lody," said Woody Fink as he walked up to a table near Easy Squeezy, where I was sitting with my boyfriend Zack Martin. We'd been together for four months. Across from us sat my roommate and BFF London Tipton and her boyfriend Cody Martin.

Zack and Cody are semi-identical twins. They both have shaggy blond hair and blue-green eyes, but Cody is taller and skinnier. Zack and Cody are also two totally different people, as twins often are. Cody is a sensitive braniac, destined to win a Nobel Prize. Zack is an athletic, outdoors type—not _quite_ as suave and manly as he imagines himself to be, but perfect for a transplanted farm girl like me.

"Hey, Woody," we all greeted Cody's roommate, a heavy-set guy with a messy brown 'fro, a big goofy grin and brown rectangular glasses. It was a normal Friday lunch hour in January and the four of us looked like a normal group of eleventh-grade friends. London was filing her nails. Cody and I were doing calculus homework. And Zack was either staring off into space or fantasizing about me. It was hard to tell which, since he did both quite often.

However, a few things prevented us from actually _being_ a typical group of high school friends. For one, our school was located on a luxury cruise ship, currently en route to the Panama Canal. For another, we'd morphed into an incestuous clique. Zack and I had broken up for two weeks in December, and I'd secretly dated Cody disguised as Holly Toledo, his dream girl from Texas. Inevitably the Holly scam had ended in tears and suspicions galore. But everything seemed to have blown over now that Cody and London had started dating on New Year's Eve. The twins have been close friends with London for years. They all used to live at the Tipton Hotel in Boston. London's dad owns the hotel and he used to own the ship. Another atypical thing is that London is 19 and still in the eleventh grade—but that's a whole other story.

Woody grabbed a deck chair. "So what's up, guys?" he asked.

London stopped mid-file. "I have a chip in my nail polish," she announced in a horrified tone. She held up what appeared to be an immaculate purple thumbnail. None of us said anything since this wasn't exactly news.

"I _said_, I have a chip in my nail polish," the airheaded heiress repeated, more to Cody this time. With a sigh, Cody put down his advanced graphing calculator and dug into the pocket of his white denim jacket.

"He is sooo whipped," Zack stage-whispered to me, and I stifled a giggle. Cody shot him a dirty look as he began to repair the damage to London's nail with purple polish. Part of his job as London's boyfriend/knight in shining armour is to make sure she looks perfect at all times.

Woody hung around a few more minutes watching this non-drama, then announced he had to go meet Addison Cartwright. "See you guys in detention," he said to Zack and me.

Zack high-fived Woody. "You got it, Woodchip." Zack and I had to spend every weekday afternoon from 3:00 to 4:30 in detention for the entire month of January. Woody often joined us. Our teacher Ms. Tutweiller and the cruise ship manager Mr. Moseby—Spencer Moseby's little brother—had decided Zack and I should be disciplined for sharing a cabin during the first four months of school. I'd applied to a Seven Seas High as a boy because all the girls' spots were taken and masqueraded as a boy for those four months. All I'd wanted was to escape Kettlecorn, Kansas and beef up my chances of winning an Ivy League scholarship. However, this deception had led to a lot more than any of us had bargained for.

Cody finished up his paint job. "We should go, too," he reminded me. "Ms. Tutweiller wanted to talk to us about starting a Mathletes league."

Ms. Tutweiller walked by at that moment, arm-in-arm with Mr. Moseby. They were laughing and chatting like the happiest couple in all the world.

"There they go, off another date," said London. "We are _goooood_!" She and Zack high-fived each other. They had set up Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller by changing their answers on a dating questionnaire from the Holiday Singles Cruise in December. The two adults seemed to be an ideal match.

I turned to Zack and his smile made me dizzy. "See you later, sweet thang," he said after a very long good-bye kiss. Cody was gone by then. I felt silly running after him, but I did it anyway. The last thing I wanted was for Zack and London to notice any weirdness or tension between Cody and me. We'd worked hard at staying friends since ending our relationship for the greater good.

[***]

"Sorry, I'm late," Woody apologized as he rushed into the detention room at 3:05. Zack and I were already in our seats. Detention hadn't turned out to be so bad. It gave me time to do my own homework, maintain my 4.0 GPA and spend more time with Zack.

Ms. T barely looked up from marking geography assignments at her desk by the window. I felt sorry for our vivacious red-haired teacher. I was sure she'd rather be somewhere else on a Friday afternoon—somewhere else with Mr. Moseby, that is.

In his haste, Woody bumped into a desk and dropped his binder. Papers and burrito wrappers scattered everywhere. Zack went to help Woody, and I went back to reviewing Zack's biology homework. I was under oath to Cody that I wouldn't let Zack flunk out of Seven Seas High.

"Hey, do you wanna be star-crossed lovers?" Zack asked suddenly.

I glanced up. "I assume you're talking to me and not Woody? But seriously, Romeo, I thought we were past the whole doomed lovers thing."

"Not Romeo and Juliet." He placed a book on my desk, right on top of his homework. It was a _Titanic_ play script based on the blockbuster movie. "Jack and Rose."

"Addison is directing the school play," Woody supplied. "I'm her assistant director. She's going to let me fart 'My Heart Will Go On' on opening night."

Gagging over Woody's musical "talents" I thumbed through the script. "Isn't it kind of risky to perform _Titanic_ on an actual cruise ship? That sounds like asking for trouble."

"Oh, she's trying to be ironic." Woody's tone was full of support. "She's getting more involved at school to show her mom that she doesn't want be a debutante." Not long ago I'd been thrilled at the prospect of rich, scrawny Addison leaving Seven Seas High to become a debutante. "Bailey, you and Zack are a shoe-in for Rose and Jack. Zack even looks like the guy who played Jack Dawson in the movie."

Zack beamed at me like a 16-year-old Leonardo Di Caprio. But I was still not convinced that getting involved with a school play was a good idea. "What if Addison just wants Zack to be her leading man and doesn't want me anywhere near her project?" I questioned. Addison had had a huge crush on Zack until recently. I'd wanted to beat her perky face in on numerous occasions.

"Hey, she's with the Woodman now," Woody spoke up while Zack said nothing. "And she has _no_ complaints."

Before this conversation could veer into the territory of too much information, which Woody was famous for, I raised my last argument. "Zack, how are we going to have time to be in a play, on top of school, detention _and_ our jobs?" I was also pretty sure Mathletes would look better on scholarship applications than a school play.

Zack's eyes lit up. "I'll bet Tutweiller would let us out of detention for rehearsals. I'll go ask her now." Mr. Moseby had stuck his head into the room during this conversation and Ms. Tutweiller had stepped out. "Friday is the best day of the week to ask for favours," he reported from the doorway. "And raises."

"How does Zack know these things?" Woody asked me when we were alone in the classroom. "His grades are even worse than mine."

"Beats me." Zack is definitely a smart guy, as evidenced by his constant scheming and sweet-talking. I sometimes wondered if Zack felt inferior to Cody, who earned straight A's and always had several extra-credit projects on the go.

Zack bounced back into the room a few minutes later. "She said yes. _Titanic_ happens to be her favourite movie. And Moseby thought it was a great idea, too, even though he's never seen _Titanic_. His exact words were 'Just the thing to keep you two hooligans out of more trouble.' So how about it, babe?" He turned full-fledged puppy dog eyes on me, knowing I wouldn't be able to say no.

I gave in, remembering how much I'd enjoyed performing in the Miss Junior Mulch pageants back in Kettlecorn. I won for three years straight. And that's how Zack and I officially became star-crossed lovers.

* * *

"Attention Hannah Fannahs!" Alex and Bailey turned to see Spencer Moseby standing on a podium where the foam pool had been, holding a megaphone and a stack of documents. "The Teen Cruise Scavenger Hunt is now starting. The winner will receive tickets to the Hannah Montana concert in Hawaii and after-party passes!"

Overzealous Fannahs mobbed the little man, tearing scavenger hunt lists from his hands.

"Do you want to play?" Bailey asked excitedly. "Going to the after-party would be _so_ cool!"

Alex waved a hand dismissively. She hadn't come here to search for egg-beaters and rutabagas. "No worries," she told her new acquaintance. "I can get us after-party tickets. Hannah's a... uh... family friend."

"Really?" Bailey squealed.

Determined to refocus the girl, Alex flashed a smile. "It's a long story. And speaking of stories, weren't you in the middle of telling me one just now?" The tale had seemed to be mostly filler so far, but Alex felt sure things would get interesting soon.

"Oh, right." Bailey picked up her smoothie cup and resumed her story.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Riana Kaiba for giving me the idea that Zack and Bailey could star in a school play. I chose **_**Titanic**_** because I love-love-love the "Kidney of the Sea" episode, and because I wanted to spoof certain scenes from the movie. Please read, review, and let me know what you're thinking of this sequel so far. Thanks as always. Xoxoxo – Ellie**


	3. Ch 3: He Could Be the One

**A/N: This chapter continues to set up the main arc for Part 1 of **_**Repercussions**_**. A few more answers, a few more questions...

* * *

**

**Chapter 3: "He Could Be the One"

* * *

**

After detention, Zack and I had to go to work. We'd both had to get jobs after blowing all our student cash card money for the semester. Zack spent his mostly on stuff to impress me, and I spent mine mostly on a brand-new wardrobe to impress Cody. Grand, reckless gestures were one of the many things I'd realized Zack and I had in common. But Zack had taken the tactic one step further and blown all of Cody's cash card money as well, forcing Cody to become the ship's towel boy. Zack took a lot of extra shifts at first so he could repay Cody and get back on my good side. Instead of understanding this, I accused him of having no time for me. So we broke up and Zack failed a bunch of assignments, landing him on academic probation. Now Zack and I each worked 15 hours a week. Cody had saved up some of his earnings and cut back on his towel shifts. Or maybe he just didn't have to spend much money now that he was dating an heiress.

I dropped by Easy Squeezy after my waitressing shift at the Neptune Room, so Zack and I could hang out until our 10:30 school curfew. "Why do you want to be in this play?" I asked him once we'd wedged ourselves into a lounger by the hot tub. "It's not like you to get involved in anything extracurricular."

Zack wound his fingers through my hair. "My high school record needs some help," he said, "and rehearsing with you will be fun."

"I think we've already done some rehearsing." I recalled our two-month anniversary on the ship's top-most deck. The way he'd kissed me had made me made realize I was falling in love with him.

Ideas for other scenes occurred to me. "I could check the banquet schedule at work. Maybe we could use a leftover ice sculpture for the iceberg. And for the grand finale, you could fall into the hot tub and I could grasp your hands, pledging never to let go."

"Yeah, babe, that would be hilarious." Zack chuckled. Ironically, I myself had narrowly missed falling into that same hot tub on the first day of school. London, the twins and I had thought the ship was sinking, and London pushed me out of the way while we struggled to escape through an exit door on the Sky Deck. If I'd fallen into the hot tub, everyone would have discovered I was really a girl. That would have changed the entire semester.

Soon my thoughts drifted again to the Starlight Deck, to the kaleidoscope of sunset colours, the salty air, that look in Zack's eyes. Lulled by his heartbeat and his arms resting on my back, I felt the long day catch up to me and my eyelids droop...

"AHEM!"

My eyes flew open and we scrambled to our feet, overturning the lounger. A not-very-amused cruise ship manager stood before us with his arms crossed and his foot tapping.

"Mr. Moseby, I can explain," said Zack on auto-pilot.

To my astonishment, Mr. Moseby made a strange sound, almost like a laugh. "No need," he responded briskly. "Just return to your cabins immediately—and by that I mean 'cabins,' _not_ 'cabin,'" he emphasized.

It was past 11:00. Once upon a time, Mr. Moseby would have had smoke coming out of his ears over such a transgression. His sudden leniency was mind-boggling.

"Who was that guy and what has he done with Mr. Moseby?" I whispered to Zack as we hurried away.

"Shhhh, you'll break the spell," he warned.

When I walked into Cabin 8-201, London was in bed, blabbing on one of her many cell phones. Mr. Moseby had sent me to bunk with her after discovering my true identity. For some reason, Cody hadn't been allowed to move in with Zack. Now Zack had Cabin 8-102 all to himself and Cody was still stuck with Woody.

"I know, Chelsea, I _never_ thought I could date a guy worth less than $100 million," London said from underneath her 18K gold-threaded quilt. "But I'm _so_ glad I'm finally with someone who loves me for who I am, not just because I'm rich."

I had to smile. Cody and London were kind of an odd couple, but I could definitely see what she saw in him.

"I'm sick of people who make up all kinds of stories just to get close to me... Cody is like the real thing, you know?"

London kept on gushing when I returned from the bathroom and climbed into my bed.

"_Yes_, I'm still totally attracted to Cody even though he's dirt poor. That did kind of surprise me at first... uh huh... he's _such_ a great kisser, he..."

Here I shoved my iPod buds into my ears and flipped to my Hannah Montana playlist. I didn't want to hear about Cody's kissing skills. Cody and I only kissed once, and it was probably the worst kiss either of us had ever endured. I tried never to think of that night. Besides, Zack had become everything to me. We'd slept together for the first time after the ship-wide New Year's Eve party. It was a really beautiful, special experience. I was so grateful to Cody for helping me see that Zack and I belonged together.

London was still raving about Cody when I fell asleep to the chorus of my favourite song.

_He's got something special  
He's got something special  
And when he's looking at me  
I wanna get all sentimental  
He's got something special  
He's got something special  
I can hardly breathe  
Something's telling me  
Telling me maybe  
He could be the one_

[***]

On Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed extra early. I'd signed up for a Home Ec course for extra credit. That was before I knew I'd become embroiled in a school play, but I didn't want to miss the class. I was completely surprised to discover Cody was the teacher.

"Hey you," I greeted him, suppressing a yawn. "I didn't know you were teaching this."

Cody busied himself with kitchen utensils while he explained that the original teacher had met with misfortune while chopping onions during a big wave. "Where's Zack?" he asked then. "You guys have been practically joined at the hip since getting back together. Or should I say 'at the lips'?"

"Both," I would have said if it weren't for our history. Instead I settled for, "You know Zack, he prefers to eat rather than cook." I didn't know if Zack had shared any personal details about New Year's Eve, but I hoped not.

Cody laughed in that sweet way of his. "Yeah, except when our mom is the cook."

I laughed as well. Carey Martin's care package muffins made great basketballs.

"Did Zack tell you she may be coming to visit in February?"

"Really?" Zack hadn't mentioned this. I'd talked to Carey on the phone a couple of times, but was leery about meeting her in person. I knew she hadn't been thrilled to learn Zack had secretly lived with a girl and was on academic probation. I didn't think she would approve of the latest development in our relationship.

Woody and Addison came in, putting an end to this conversation. I was glad to see them. Woody has a pretty unhealthy diet, and I wanted to be friends with Addison now that she and Woody were dating.

The three of us got seats together. As usual, Addison was raring to go. "Woody tells me you and Zack are auditioning for Rose and Jack," she blared. "I know you guys will be awesome. You did such a great job of fooling everyone into thinking you were a boy last year, Bailey. All those times I threw myself at Zack I never even guessed he was into somebody else."

"Uh ... thanks, I guess. So, when are auditions?"

"Tuesday after class. It's going to be really, really great!"

Cody called his students to attention and everyone sat up straighter. I wasn't used to seeing him take charge. It actually suited him. Zack bosses Cody around a lot, being 10 minutes older.

"I can't wait to eat my homework!" Woody waxed lyrical. "Are you going to teach us how to make burritos or tacos, Sir Chef? I need to practice the theme song for _Titanic_."

"This is an introductory class," Cody informed his roommate witheringly. "Today we're going to learn what an egg is and, if that goes really well, we might even cook them."

Having grown up on a farm, I already knew everything there is to know about eggs. I put my head down on the counter intending to rest my eyes for a just minute.

The next thing I knew, Addison was tapping me. "Bailey, Bailey, wake up! Class is over."

"Huh?" I looked up to see only Woody and Addison in the Home Ec room. Woody had a clump of scrambled egg in his hair. Instantly I felt like a terrible friend for falling asleep in Cody's class.

On my way to work, I stopped by the Sky Bean espresso bar and bought a cinnamon twist latte. I'd recently read somewhere that coffee is a "sweet, sweet elixir of love."

[***]

Three cinnamon twist lattes and an eight-hour waitressing shift later, I was definitely in love. Most importantly, I had plenty of energy to read through the _Titanic_ script with Zack in Cabin 8-102. I still thought of it as "our" cabin. As much as I adored London, I missed living with Zack. And having closet space. I even missed the gigantic "Z" on the wall, made of blank CDs.

" 'You could just call me a tumbleweed blowing in the wind,' " Zack read out. "Yeah, that sounds like me."

"And I suppose I'm 'no picnic,' " I bantered, skipping ahead a few pages. I hoped Zack would read Jack's next lines and call me the 'most amazing, astounding, wonderful girl' he'd ever known.

Instead he winked at me and said, "I'd better brush up on my drawing skills."

Yikes, I'd forgotten about the adult content when I agreed to this detention-busting plan. But our script was specifically for high school drama classes. "You know," I pointed out, "a T-rated version won't contain any racy scenes."

"Well, that sucks!" Zack flung the book across the cabin. It disappeared into a pile of clothes, comic books and other junk. "We'll just have to make our own." He pulled me down onto his bed and that was the end of our first rehearsal.

[***]

I made it back to Cabin 8-201 just before 10:30. When I opened the door, I got my second complete surprise of the day.

London and Cody were tangled up on her bed. They were both fully dressed, but the porthole was rather fogged up.

"Bailey, get out!" London shrieked, hurling a satin pillow at me. "Daddy's Little Princess" was printed on it.

I slunk into the hallway, feeling horribly embarrassed.

Cody appeared a few moments later. "Sorry about that." He looked as uncomfortable as I felt.

"Hey, it's OK, these things happen." It was a lame thing to say, but when our eyes met I could tell he understood. Cody and I weren't meant to be, and we both knew it. Yet even though we were in love with other people, it was OK to wonder, occasionally, what could have been.

"Well, I better go." Cody gave me a quick hug and then he was gone.

* * *

"Get _away_ from me!" Bailey shoved a scavenger hunter who was trying to snatch the butterfly barrette from her hair.

"Ahhhhh!" the guy screamed and jumped backward, knocking himself into a garbage can next to the Easy Squeezy counter.

No one had heard Alex mutter "_This loser can't linger, make him burn his finger_" under her breath.

Bailey touched her barrette. "Did you do something?" she asked, a look of consternation on her face.

The blistering heat was already gone. Alex allowed herself a smidgen of smugness. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to woundedhearts for helping with Alex's mini-spell. Send me your thoughts! I so much appreciate all the reviews you guys have submitted so far. Xoxoxo – Ellie**


	4. Ch 4: Staying True to the Canon

**A/N: As tiger002 wrote in a recent review, normality in the **_**Suite Life**_** universe doesn't last long. Could the tide be about to turn?

* * *

**

**Chapter 4: "Staying True to the Canon"

* * *

**

"I'll get us another round." Bailey called Fred over and ordered two banana fofana smoothies. "You'll love this flavour, it's the best." She paused. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this stuff. I mean, I don't even know your name."

"It's Ashley..." Alex improvised, "...Olsen." _I can probably remember that_, she told herself.

Fred produced the smoothies, and once again Bailey began to speak.

* * *

Ms. Tutweiller let Zack and me skip detention on Tuesday afternoon so we could audition for Addison's play. She gave us the parts of Jack and Rose on the spot. And just as Zack had forecast, Ms. Tutweiller agreed to let us attend rehearsals after class on Tuesdays and Thursday in place of detention. Rehearsals started that Thursday, and Zack and I spent most of our free time over the next week practicing our lines.

"See, I told you it would all work out," Zack said as we bought each other congratulatory smoothies.

"Zackary Martin, you are a genius." I rewarded him with a Mulberry Mania–flavoured kiss. I was getting excited about becoming a high school drama star.

Everything went smoothly until the following Thursday night. My waitressing shift ran overtime and I couldn't get to Easy Squeezy until almost 10:30. Zack was sitting under the counter to avoid Mr. Moseby on his evening round.

"Come on, babe, I have an idea," he said as soon as I showed up. He went over to the elevators and I followed him, not knowing what to expect. Zack was always surprising me.

Five minutes later we were down on the Promenade Deck, heading in the direction of Putt Putt Golf. The golf course, where we'd spent hundreds of hours perfecting our swings, closed at 10:00. Zack unlocked the back door with the all-access keycard he'd "borrowed" from the ship's front desk and ushered me inside. I was puzzled by this late-night visit. What did mini golf have to do with _Titanic_?

[***]

"You're right, mini golf _is_ more fun when there's nobody here," I remarked, putting my feet up on the dashboard. We'd just played our fastest game ever on the dimly lit course and were taking a break in a golf cart parked by the Bermuda Triangle hole.

"Hey, sweet thang," said Zack, inching closer to me on the seat. "We could always rehearse the handprint scene."

"Zack!" I smacked his shoulder lightly. "That scene is _not_ in our script. Was that your 'idea' all long?"

Zack slid his arm around me. "Maybe. Nothin' wrong with staying true to the canon." His hand wandered up my thigh. "For the sake of art, of course."

"Baby," I opined, "nighttime debauchery in a golf cart just isn't my thing—even for the sake of dramatic art. And anyway, the golf cart doesn't have windows to fog up."

"Awww, you're no fun," he pouted but kept his arm in place. Now that that was settled, I focused on resting my feet. Except when I looked at Zack again, I couldn't resist kissing his fingertips. Then I climbed onto his lap. Our lips connected and soon we were really into the "rehearsal." When he took off my blouse and found my bra hook, I knew we were getting carried away but the attraction between us was so intense that I couldn't stop.

"I want you, babe," he breathed in my ear. "You are sooo hot."

I felt the same way about him. Kissing him more deeply, I eased up his t-shirt and tried not to dwell on the inappropriateness of what we were about to do.

Zack leaned back so I could pull off his shirt. But he leaned back just a little too far. Suddenly we fell right out of the cart, and I banged my head on the turf-covered floor.

"Babe, are you OK?" he asked as I lay stunned. He reached for me, and then I heard him say, "Oh, shit."

My ears perked to attention. Terror jolted through me. "Oh, shit" was right.

Zack yanked me around to the back of the golf cart, just as two shadowy figures appeared at the first hole. From their voices, we knew who they were: Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller. I had been caught in an eerily similar scenario with Cody just before Christmas. Cody had rescued us with a perfectly timed text message alerting the adults to an emergency elsewhere on the ship. I had my doubts Zack could think that quickly in a crisis. Also, I couldn't send a text myself since Cody had told Zack about that night, but not my role in it. The only option was to crouch behind the golf cart and pray Zack wouldn't blow our cover by laughing.

As the pair approached, it became clear they weren't enjoying their game.

"Another hole in one!" crowed Mr. Moseby. "I can just hear Big Beulah cheering in the grandstand."

"You talk about your mother a lot, Mr. M." Ms. Tutweiller was obviously having a cranky night.

"Well, I've noticed that you have quite a few daddy issues of your own, Ms. T," Mr. Moseby responded in a snippy tone.

"Oh please." I could picture Ms. Tutweiller rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "We all have our flaws, Mr. M, but I'm not exactly London Tipton in the daddy issues department."

Mr. Moseby seemed to disagree. "Despite her father's frequent absences and 12 failed marriages, London has matured into quite a well-adjusted young woman. Why, she's even managing her first stable relationship."

"That may be," conceded Ms. Tutweiller. "But dating Cody Martin hasn't lead to any improvement in her grades." _No surprise there._ Getting London to care about school would stump even the craftiest of geniuses. "However, Zack Martin's grades have improved considerably thanks to Bailey Pickett's influence."

Hunched in our hiding spot, I flushed with pride. I wouldn't break my promise to Cody.

"Enough talk about students," Mr. Moseby interjected. "May I remind you that we are on a date, Ms. T?"

Ms. Tutweiller sighed. "Fine by me."

The game continued until Mr. Moseby disturbed the peace. "Yet another hole in one... and the crowd goes wild!"

"Uh, do you see a crowd, Mr. M?" Ms. Tutweiller asked testily.

_Please don't see a crowd, _I willed._ Please don't see a crowd._

"I can't help it if I'm a pro. You're just being a sore loser."

"_You're_ being a sore winner."

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

Before this conversation could degenerate further, Mr. Moseby announced, "Look, there's a golf cart. Why don't we take a break?"

_Oh feathers, did Mr. Moseby have the same idea as Zack?_ I shrank in fear, while my dinner contemplated making a reappearance.

"No, thanks, I'm good." _Amen to that, sister!_

The next sounds from Mr. Moseby were "Cha cha cha cha cha _cha_!" The adults were only a few feet away from us now.

"You don't have to do your happy dance, Mr. M. You're not impressing anyone."

I had to agree with Ms. Tutweiller. If Mr. Moseby was trying to stay on her good side, he was crashing and burning.

"Oh, lighten up!" he huffed. "Have a sense of humour, woman!"

"But you're _not_ funny," she snapped. "And by the way, neither are The Three Stooges."

"Blasphemy!" Mr. Moseby exclaimed justifiably. If we hadn't been in such a compromising position, Zack and I both would have leapt out to defend The Stooges.

"Their humour is so juvenile. But I guess that's why it appeals to you."

"Well, _you_ enjoy 'chick flicks,' like _Titanic_. What is the point of even watching? You already know what's going to happen!"

"How is that different from somebody getting a pie in the face?"

"You know that I say to that?" Mr. Moseby began to nuck-nuck-nuck like Moe.

"That's it. I've had enough of losing golf balls in the Bermuda Triangle!" stormed Ms. Tutweiller. "_And_ I've had enough of you, Mr. M!"

"You're just 18 holes of fun, aren't you?" A faint crash sounded, as though a golf club had been flung across the course. Predictably, Mr. Moseby got no answer from Ms. Tutweiller.

Silence fell and few minutes later, Zack sat up and scanned the area. "OK, babe, they're gone," he proclaimed. Weak with relief, I uncramped myself from the floor.

"Do you know what this means?" he asked as I groped for my blouse. At least no articles of clothing would be forgotten this time.

"That the countdown to us being expelled is back on again?" I couldn't button fast enough. Now that Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller had finally left, I was in no mood for idle chit-chat. I just wanted to get out of there before a security guard showed up.

"No—we need to keep Moseby and Tutweiller together." Zack turned to me, his eyes gleaming. I recognized that look. "If they break up, it'll be good-bye Mellow Moseby and Tranquil Tutweiller. They'll start making life hell for all of us again."

I stopped in my tracks. He did have a point, but so many of our plans had gone awry over the semester. We were both lucky to still be students at Seven Seas High. "Are you sure that's such a good idea, Zack?"

"Trust me," he said in a voice I knew too well. "Baby, you know I always have a plan."

"Uh huh." I hauled him toward the back door.

"How's your head, babe?" Zack asked when we were riding up to Deck 8.

I realized I was incredibly proud of him for not snickering even once during that ordeal and then I found myself pressing the "close door" button.

* * *

"This guy sounds really cool," Alex said. "Why would you ever want to go out with the other one? Cody sounds just like my brother Justin, who is so friggin' lame you wouldn't believe it."

Bailey shrugged, looking down at the counter. "Uh, it's another long story... maybe I'll tell you someday, if we stay in touch after the teen cruise."

Alex had a feeling this wouldn't be in the cards, but there was no need to say so. "What happened then? Did Zack come up with a crazy plan?" she asked. With a sly smile, she added, "I guess you're an Aerosmith fan?"

Blushing as red as Donna Cabonna's new scarf collection, Bailey continued with her story.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to AnotherParamoreFan for contributing a great idea to this chapter, and to Riana Kaiba, Lodylodylody, and woundedhearts for helping me figure out how many times Mr. Tipton has been married. Thanks for the reviews and alerts—you guys are great at inspiring me to keep writing this sequel. Xoxoxo – Ellie**


	5. Ch 5: Another Really Bad Plan

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting this. I just had my screenwriting midterm and was a little busy this week. Judging from the reviews of Chapter 4, the majority of you think Zack having a plan is bad news. It would appear that Cody agrees with you…

* * *

**

**Chapter 5: Another Really Bad Plan

* * *

**

"That is _such_ a bad plan," Cody ranted at breakfast the next morning. Zack had just finished telling us about his idea for a _Titanic_ reunion between Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller. "Even worse than the Starlight Follies plan to unmask Ms. Tutweiller as a showgirl. Seriously, Zack, she is never going to agree to rehearse a scene with you."

"Yes, she will," Zack contradicted, accustomed to Cody's nay-saying. "She thinks I'm a serious student now."

Cody was still appalled. "No way! Absolutely not!" He looked to London, Addison and me. "Girls, back me up on this." Woody could be of no help, since he was at the breakfast buffet for thirds.

Zack's plan _was_ outrageous, but I had to admit I was impressed with his strategizing and I knew his heart was in the right place. Plus, I was more than a bit unwilling to take Cody's side against Zack. That had caused problems between us in the past. So I just let Addison do the talking.

"I think it's a _fabulous_ plan," she gabbled. "When Mr. Moseby thinks Ms. Tutweiller is about to jump overboard in a fit of heartbreak, he'll have no choice but to rush down to save her. And when he takes her in his arms and they gaze into each other's eyes, they'll know they're meant to be, forever and ever." She sighed dreamily and looked toward the buffet, where Woody was hopefully staying away from the baked beans.

"Exactly," affirmed Zack. "Then they'll be all lovey-dovey again, and we can keep on doing whatever we want."

"Because that's how your plans always work out," Cody retorted, with more sarcasm than usual. "Well, don't expect me to bail you out if, I mean _when_, it all goes wrong."

"Oh, don't be such a stick in the mud," said London suddenly, roused from her _Vogue_ magazine. This was unusual, too. None of us were used to hearing her use idioms. "Don't you believe in the power of true love?" She turned her huge brown eyes on him, rimmed with long, perfectly curled eyelashes

Naturally Cody had to kiss his girlfriend and say, "Of course, I do."

"Then it's settled," she stated, as though the final decision about Zack's plan were up to her. London tends to think everything revolves around her.

[***]

"What is this show even about?" Zack asked sleepily that evening as the _Mackenzie Falls_ credits rolled across the screen of my laptop, placed at the foot of his bed.

I folded up the laptop and explained, "It's an expose of the upper echelons of North American society, revealing that its most privileged members face significant socio-economic pressures, including granular class structures, shifting patriarchical roles, and the wealth transfer risks inherent in business succession."

"Whatever." Zack rolled over, burying his face in the pillow.

A knock sounded at the door, and I got to my feet.

"Bailey, what happened to your hair?" Addison gasped when I opened the door.

My hands flew to my bangs. _Oh crap..._

"Glue in a hairbrush?" Woody shook his head at Zack, sounding disappointed. "That's one of the oldest tricks in the book."

Zack sat up. "Yeah, let's go with that," he said, smirking.

When I returned from the bathroom, Zack, Woody and Addison were discussing how to pull off the _Titanic_ Reunion Plan, now known as the TRP.

* * *

"There's something about you, Bailey..."

Bailey looked blankly at Alex. "What do you mean?" she asked. She seemed mystified.

"I think you know what I mean." Alex could hardly keep from snorting banana fofana smoothie up her nose. "Anyway, tell me about the TRP."

Bailey adjusted her butterfly barrette self-consciously. "Are you sure I'm not boring you, Ashley?"

Now Alex was mystified. "Ashley?" _Where had that come from?_

"Ashley Olsen?" Bailey reminded her.

Alex gave her a crooked smile. _Didn't I say Ashley _Simpson_?

* * *

_

Zack had cleared a space on his desk and drawn a rough outline of the stern of the _S.S. Tipton _on a large sheet of paper. "OK, here's what we're going to do," he said, sketching as he spoke. "We'll go down to the Promenade Deck and Tutweiller will stand here." He drew an x in the centre of the stern. "She'll wear the safety harness under her jacket and the rope will be wrapped around the chain that secures the anchor to the deck. And you guys..." Here he turned to Addison and me, but before he could explain our roles to us, he was interrupted by another knock at the door.

This time he answered it, and the visitors turned out to be Cody and London.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked, glaring at Cody.

Cody glared back at him. "Making sure you don't end up in San Quentin," he responded crossly and strode to the desk. His eyes flicked over the sketch.

Zack scowled at this long-running joke. "We don't need your input. I'm the one who got an A in woodshop, remember?" He jerked the paper away from Cody.

"And I'm the one who's getting an A in AP Physics and Calculus," Cody rebutted. "In addition to the A that I already got in AP Geometry."

The twins faced each other angrily. Woody glanced at me.

"What's San Quentin?" London asked then, wrinkling her nose. She was still standing in doorway. "Is that a three-star beach resort?"

Her ridiculous question dissipated the tension. Cody and London sat down on my old bed and Zack sat next to Woody on the floor. Addison and I sat on Zack's bed, an alliance I never would have imagined even a month ago.

As 10:30 approached and our planning session drew to a close, I looked around the cabin at my boyfriend and my four closest friends. I felt like we were partners in crime, a circle of intrigue. Each of us had a set of tasks to accomplish and a specific job to play in executing the TRP. Except for Cody, that is. He had limited his contribution to recommending that Ms. Tutweiller stand two feet closer to the anchor.

I walked Woody and Addison to the door. "This is going to be _so_ cool!" Addison babbled, giving me a big hug. "Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller will be grateful to us _forever_. I'll bet you, me and London will get to be bridesmaids at their wedding."

London shuddered at this prediction. "Ugh, I am _not_ wearing polyester," she said in disgust.

The rest of us just rolled our eyes, including Cody.

"My purse is really heavy," London whinged after Woody and Addison had left. "Here, you carry it." She thrust her suitcase-sized Louis Vuitton bag at Cody. I imagined his arm snapping off from the weight. But all he did was heft it over his shoulder and hold out a hand to help London to her stiletto-clad feet. When he said good-bye to us, I felt the coldness in his tone, assuming it was directed at Zack.

"I don't know about those two after all," Zack said, once we were alone. "London treats my brother like he's her butler."

"Or her purser," I replied, laughing.

Zack rolled up the TRP sketch and stashed it on his desk between the wall and a stack of textbooks. "Why doesn't he stand up to her? I thought he had more self-esteem than that."

"Honestly, I'll bet Cody doesn't mind that much," I told him. "He likes to be needed. It gives him something to be other than your nerdy brother." I felt like adding, _Cody would also have more self-esteem if you didn't make fun of him all the time_. But with five noisy, argumentative brothers of my own, I knew my opinion wouldn't make a difference. I also didn't want to imply that I had any special insights into Cody's personality.

Zack frowned. "Whatever."

I curled up on "my" bed. "I don't want to go back to my cabin, boo," I said wistfully. Most of all, I missed waking up next to Zack every morning.

He lay down beside me and a moment later I felt his arms curve around me. "Then stay here," he murmured into the crook of my neck.

And so I did.

* * *

**A/N: OK, guys, I have a favour to ask. In between studying and doing my day job, I've been working on Part 2 of **_**Repercussions**_** (so that I can hopefully post chapters more quickly!). Part 2 takes place a few years in the future. Are there any tech gadgets or social/political issues you'd like to see included or addressed in the future? I would love to get your input and will credit any ideas that I use. Thanks very much, and please read and review. Your comments are always inspiring. Xoxoxo – Ellie**


	6. Ch 6: Anchor's Awry!

**A/N: First off, a huge thank you for all the reviews of the last chapter, suggestions for futuristic developments and questions about my screenwriting midterm (which went well :). You guys rock, as always! I also want to apologize for being slightly behind with reviewing. Rest assured that I'll be posting my latest batch of reviews shortly.

* * *

**

**Chapter 6: Anchor's Awry!

* * *

**

The TRP was scheduled for Sunday evening. I thought we could have used more time to prepare, plus Ms. Tutweiller had assigned a mountain of homework—evidence that 'Tranquil Tutweiller' had indeed been a love-induced persona. However, Zack insisted that Sunday evening was perfect because we needed to strike while Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller were at the most vulnerable post-break-up stage, their first weekend apart from each other. Given that I'd hatched my hapless Holly hoax after my first weekend apart from Zack, I couldn't argue with his logic.

Thus, at the end of our detention on Friday afternoon, our final session, Zack approached Ms. Tutweiller's desk.

"Hey, Ms. T," he said with his most disarming smile, while Woody and I stayed in our seats. "Could I ask you a school-related favour?"

"School" was the magic word. Ms. Tutweiller looked up from marking assignments, hope sparking in her gloomy hazel eyes. "Sure, Zack, what do you need?"

"I'm having trouble getting the right emotional pitch for one of the scenes in _Titanic_," he explained, the picture of a committed drama scholar, "and I was wondering if you could rehearse it with me. I know you'd be able to help me, since it's your favourite movie."

I pinched my lips together and avoided looking at Woody. I knew I'd burst into laughter if I so much as peeked at him.

"But aren't you and Bailey rehearsing everything together?" Ms. Tutweiller sounded a little perplexed.

"Well, yeah, but _you_, Ms. T, have true stage presence," Zack said earnestly. I knew he was drawing on his theory that our teacher had a secret double life as a showgirl. "I would really benefit from your expertise. I just want to give 150% to this play, and to my fellow actors." When he turned his best puppy dog eyes on her, she became as helpless as I had when he used the same technique on me during our audition conversation.

Ms. Tutweiller gave a girlish giggle. "Since you put it that way, I'm all yours." Then she looked at me. "As long as _you_ don't mind, Miss Pickett."

"I'm OK with it," I said quickly, "and anyway, I have to work on some extra credit projects this weekend." Compared to masquerading as a boy for four months, this hardly felt like a lie.

"So, what scene do you need help with?" Ms. Tutweiller asked Zack pleasantly.

"The one where Rose threatens to jump overboard," Zack answered.

Now, if I'd been in what London calls Ms. Tutweiller's "hideous, clunky nurse shoes" I might have felt the slightest bit suspicious at Zack's choice of scene. But Ms. Tutweiller clearly had high hopes for Zack's transformation into a devoted student. Or maybe she was just too upset over her break-up with Mr. Moseby to think straight. Either way, she agreed to rehearse with Zack on the Promenade Deck at 7:00 on Sunday evening.

[***]

In between work and homework on Saturday, I met with Addison to round up costumes and walkie talkies from the drama department. Zack and Woody were in charge of procuring rope and a safety harness from the ship's rock-climbing gym. London was responsible for keeping Mr. Moseby busy while we completed these tasks. Cody, on the other hand, retreated to the library straight after Home Ec class. I didn't see him for the rest of the weekend.

On Sunday morning I was called in to a last-minute shift at the Neptune Room. During my break, Addison dropped by with a progress report. "Woody and I have our technician costumes ready," she updated me, slurping an extra-large Blueberry Blast smoothie. "We've staked out the service room on the Fiesta Deck. You and London just have to conveniently 'run into' Mr. Moseby when he's on his first evening round and make sure you get him to the stairs leading down to the Promenade Deck at 7:20." We synchronized our watches and wished each other good luck.

Addison squeezed my hand before she hurried off. "I hope Ms. Tutweiller will want us to wear cotton candy–pink bridesmaid dresses," she chirped. "That would be the best colour for you, me and London." It didn't surprise me that Addison wanted a candy-coloured dress. She was jittering as though she'd been inhaling sugar all day.

At 6:45 I finished my shift and called Zack on my cellphone. I didn't want to attract unnecessary attention to myself by using the walkie talkie yet.

"Hey, sweet thang," he answered breezily. "We're all set. Woody and I figured out that the anchor on the Promenade Deck isn't even operational. It's just a really big decoration, so it's more secure than we thought."

"As long as Ms. Tutweiller understands that," I said, trying to keep the anxiety out of my voice. Although we'd completed our month of detention, I couldn't forget that Zack was still on academic probation.

"No worries. Tutweiller is practically doing cartwheels over my caring about school," he assured me. "I'm the kind of student that teachers like her dream about rehabilitating."

"OK, boo, I'll see you on the Sky Deck in half an hour." I kissed him through the phone and crossed my fingers before hanging up.

[***]

At 6:55, my roommate and I met outside the dining room where Mr. Moseby was just finishing up at the dinner buffet. He had eaten by himself and did look lonely, which made me feel more optimistic about the TRP.

London rushed up to him as he walked out to begin his round. "Hey, Moseby!" she greeted him, linking her arm through his. "How was your dinner?"

Mr. Moseby grimaced. London had accosted him several times on Saturday, and his heiress tolerance threshold had grown visibly low. Nevertheless, London was his boss's daughter, which obliged him to put up with her. And which was why, when he sighed, "London, I don't have time for this" she kept on jabbering.

As we accompanied Mr. Moseby along the Gala Deck, London monopolized him with her father's reforestation plans for Parrot Island, a small Caribbean Island where Mr. Tipton has a villa.

"Mmmm hmmm," Mr. Moseby said every few moments, his brow crinkling in pain.

London simply ploughed on, and I was reminded of her special brand of cleverness, a trait Cody has probably always seen in her but that the rest of us seldom take note of.

Up ahead, at the bow of the ship, a group of people clogged the stairs to the Fiesta Deck. I increased my pace to help create a path.

Behind me, London suddenly said, "Look, there's Tipton One."

At this Mr. Moseby and I both cast our eyes upward, following London's finger. The sun had long since set and dark clouds raced across the January sky. Sure enough, a bright speck of light poked through—the Tipton Space Station. I also noticed a cute little smiley face painted on London's fuchsia fingernail.

"Daddy is flying me up for the grand opening over Spring Break," she told us excitedly. "His secretary sent me photos of my pink custom-designed space suit today."

"Why, that's wonderful, London." Mr. Moseby sounded genuinely thrilled for her, but I knew he had the same thought as me. Would Mr. Tipton actually come through for London this time? The business titan has a long track record of disappointing his only child.

As soon as we arrived on the Fiesta Deck and began our trek toward the stern, I switched on the walkie talkie inside my pocket. I was wearing one of my baggy hoodies from my days as a ghetto farmboy. Zack had hidden the other walkie-talkie in his backpack.

Faintly I could hear him talking to Ms. Tutweiller.

"Ms. T, you're so talented," he was saying. "Without your help, I'm sure I'd fail at this role. You're the best teacher I've ever had."

"Oh, Zack. Stop it." Ms. Tutweiller's blush was audible. If I hadn't been aware of the TRP, I would have actually felt jealous.

I strode a few steps ahead of London and Mr. Moseby so he wouldn't hear their voices. As I did, I passed the service room where Woody and Addison were supposed to be stationed. Since the anchor emergency release wouldn't need to be monitored after all, I wondered if the two of them were even in there. But with London and Mr. Moseby within earshot and 7:20 fast approaching, I didn't dare stop to knock on the door.

"I just love Rose," Ms. Tutweiller spoke from my pocket. "I had a crush on a ne'er do well boy myself when I was her age, and my parents forbade me to see him. I threatened to run away to Vegas and–" Ms. Tutweiller cleared her throat then. "Well, anyway, that's neither here nor there."

My mouth fell open. _So she _was_ a showgirl..._

"So, do you need a moment to get in character?" Zack asked innocently. This was our cue to maneuver Mr. Moseby into position. I nudged London's purse and she stage-winked at me behind his shoulder.

"Are you sure this harness is really secure?" Ms. Tutweiller asked a moment later.

"Of course, Ms. T. I know my knots." Zack's confidence radiated through the walkie talkie. "In fact, I was the best Wilderness Scout in Mr. Moseby's troop. You can ask him yourself."

"Oh, don't talk to me about Mr. M," Ms. Tutweiller sniffed. "If I saw him now, I'd jump overboard just to get away from him."

Her words caused my worries to flare up again. That was exactly the opposite of what we wanted to happen.

By now London, Mr. Moseby and I had almost reached the stairs to the Promenade Deck, which thankfully were clear of people. With one more step, Ms. Tutweiller came into our collective view. Zack was hidden by the curve of the Fiesta Deck.

Standing beside the railing, illuminated by a soft pool of deck light, our teacher made a perfect Rose DeWitt-Bukater. Her red hair fanned out in the breeze and a long white Victorian-style coat billowed around her, obscuring the harness and rope attached to the nearby anchor. Eight decks below, the Pacific Ocean swirled, a black rippling mass.

"Look, Moseby," London piped up, pointing once more. "It's Tutweiller!"

"What _is_ she doing?" Mr. Moseby was obviously puzzled. Having never seen _Titanic_, he had no way of recognizing a Seven Seas High rendition of the pivotal scene where Rose contemplates throwing herself off the ship and Jack gallantly saves her, thus igniting their epic love for each other.

As the three of us watched, Ms. Tutweiller bravely stepped over the railing. Keeping her hands tightly around it, she leaned forward high above the ominous water.

Everything happened so fast I wasn't sure which noise we heard first—the frightful creak of the anchor plummeting toward the ocean or Ms. Tutweiller's blood-curdling scream.

* * *

**A/N: Special thanks to woundedhearts for helping with anchor research. Please read and review. Thanks, guys. Xoxoxo – Ellie**


	7. Ch 7: Who Is Responsible for This?

**A/N: You guy seem to like cliffhangers. I'll keep that in mind.

* * *

**

**Chapter 7: "Who Is Responsible for This?"

* * *

**

"Oh my God, did you kill your teacher?" Alex blurted out. Perched on the edge of her barstool, she felt a mixture of respect and alarm. Alex was an accomplished prankster herself, but none of her feats had a body count.

Bailey winced at these words. "Just let me finish," she said with an irritated sigh.

* * *

The drama unfurled like a nightmare, the kind that's so awful you actually expect to wake up in the middle of it.

First, Mr. Moseby darted down the stairs, shouting, "Emma! Emma!" while poor Ms. Tutweiller dangled from the deck by one hand, shrieking pitifully.

Next, the ship tipped slightly to the left, as a terrible screech rose from its bowels. Passengers began to yell and shout, converging from all sides to see what the ruckus was about.

And then Woody and Addison erupted from the service room, babbling frantically, "I tripped...," "We fell...," "We didn't know...," "The safety release catch...," "The glass broke...," "We're sorry..."

These events may have happened in a different order—or possibly all at once. I simply stood on the Fiesta Deck next to London, paralyzed with fear. Even though Ms. Tutweiller was the one in peril, I saw my own life flash before my eyes, ending with New Year's Eve.

Zack tried to help Mr. Moseby rescue Ms. Tutweiller, but Mr. Moseby pushed him aside. He knelt on the deck and urged Ms. Tutweiller to grab his hand. She continued to flail and scream, as the anchor chain tugged her downward, and as we learned later, the not-so-decorative anchor ground its way into one of the ship's propellers.

"Help! Help me!" Ms. Tutweiller was dazed with panic.

"Come on, Emma, give me your hand," Mr. Moseby encouraged, reaching both his hands through the railing as far as they would go. "Pull yourself up, you can do it."

Ms. Tutweiller screamed again, but was able to latch onto them with her own free hand and clamber onto the edge of the railing. Everyone on deck drew in a simultaneous breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

Just as we'd envisioned, Mr. Moseby clasped our teacher in his arms. "I've got you," he promised her. "I won't let go."

With one more tug, she was over the railing and they fell backwards onto the deck, holding each other tightly.

A chorus of cheers rang out. Ms. Tutweiller was saved! We weren't murderers after all. Zack sent us a silent thumbs up. Despite the unexpected turn of events, the TRP appeared to have achieved its purpose.

Once Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller were back on their feet, the bloodbath began.

"WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?" Mr. Moseby howled, over the relentless buzzing of his BlackBerry®. This was the angriest I'd seen him since the night he and Ms. Tutweiller found out that I was really a girl and Zack and I were more than just roommates.

The five of us shuffled forth. We had no choice. It was definitely not our finest hour.

"It was me," Woody spoke up bravely. "I broke the anchor safety catch, it's all my fault." Addison cowered beside him and nodded. Before Woody could explain what had actually happened, Zack interrupted him.

"It was my idea," he said to the two adults. "This is my fault."

Woody made another attempt to share the blame. "No, it's my fault," he claimed.

Zack stepped in front of Woody. "I'll take full responsibility."

My heart sank, but I was still proud of him and admired his composure.

While Mr. Moseby looked from Zack to Woody, wondering whom to believe or yell at first, Ms. Tutweiller asked, "What do you mean by 'your idea'?" Her face was ghostly white and she was trembling uncontrollably.

London, who had the least of all of us to lose, jumped in then. "We were just trying to help you guys get back together," she said, her eyes widening innocently.

"Because we love and care for you both so much," I contributed lamely. Nothing could justify our behaviour, but as I said before, we did have the best of intentions.

A hum of support went up from the crowd. The ship had stopped leaning, and from below we heard a technical crew already at work, extracting the mangled anchor from the propeller. A canned announcement advised everyone "not to panic" because the situation was "under control."

Mr. Moseby launched into another tirade. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED MS. TUTWEILLER!"

The k-word made us all flinch. Ms. Tutweiller looked down at her feet.

Speaking for everyone, Zack said in his sincerest voice, "We weren't thinking and we really are sorry."

Mr. Moseby's dark eyes narrowed at him. "What about that hooligan brother of yours?" he inquired in a sinister tone. "Is he involved, too?"

Zack shook his head and replied, "No, he had nothing to do with this." His loyalty to Cody brought tears to my eyes.

"Well, I find that hard to believe," Mr. Moseby responded coldly. "But if you say so." The noisy BlackBerry continued to demand his attention and finally he answered it. "Yes, Captain Lunsford, I'll be right there," he said, sounding strained. Then he turned back to us. "The school play is cancelled, and you five will be spending more time in detention than you ever thought possible." Menacingly he added, "Until we can figure out what to do with you, that is. Now get back to your cabins before you cause the boat to sink."

Addison burst into tears as soon as we were out of earshot. "They're going to expel us all," she sobbed. She looked desperately at Woody. "I'll never, ever see you again. And my mom will force me to become a debutante."

Woody looked just as upset at this prospect. "I don't want you to have to become a debutante," he said tearfully. Addison leaned against him and wept.

"Guys, stop being so melodramatic," Zack snapped at them. "They're not going to expel a bunch of students at once. That would give Seven Seas High a really bad reputation, and they'd look incompetent. Moseby and Tutweiller are already on thin ice."

Again I was reminded how Cody and London had saved us from expulsion on that last Monday night in December by threatening to report Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller to Mr. Tipton for professional negligence. Although London was directly involved in tonight's disaster, she could likely still pull rank to keep us at Seven Seas High. This probably explained why my roommate didn't seem too worried as we resumed walking to the elevators. Being an heiress and the boss's daughter granted her automatic immunity.

"We'll just spend a few more weeks in detention," Zack speculated, more calmly. "Seriously, my brother and I did much worse stuff than this at the Tipton. We were never kicked out of our suite, and our mom still has her job there. So don't worry."

Woody, Addison and I listened to our unofficial leader and none of us questioned his reasoning outright. To tell you the truth, I think we were all in shock.

[***]

Mr. Moseby hadn't been kidding about detention. Just before first period on Monday morning, he and Ms. Tutweiller informed Zack, Woody, Addison, London, and me that we'd be spending every weekday afternoon throughout February in the detention room. For the rest of our non-school and non-working hours, we'd also be confined to our cabins except for one half-hour each night after dinner.

But nothing more was said about the matter, and by Wednesday, I allowed myself to relax a bit. As long as I never got in trouble again, I could still graduate from Seven Seas High with an Ivy League scholarship. And happily, Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller were back together, closer than ever. Surely that counted for something.

However, I did wonder if the other shoe would drop. And on Wednesday night it did.

[***]

I almost tripped over Cody on the stairs to the Sky Deck. I'd just brought some rolls of change to the Sky Bean after my shift at the Neptune Room.

"Oh, hey, Bailey." He was sitting with chin in his hands and didn't look up. These were the first words he'd spoken to me since the night of the TRP planning session.

The emptiness in his voice scared me. "Cody, what's wrong?" I asked and sat down beside him.

Cody heaved a sigh and faced me. "Mr. Moseby is making my mom pay for half of the broken anchor. The propeller was covered by insurance, but even with the bill split between Woody's parents, it's a lot of money." He stopped and what he said next made my heart stand still. "It was the last straw for her. She's planning to send Zack to military school. He doesn't want you to know yet, in case she changes her mind."

"What?" I knew I was staring at Cody in horror, but the words hadn't really sunk in. In spite of my earlier fears, I couldn't process the thought of Zack leaving Seven Seas High, leaving me. "You're kidding, right?"

"Would I joke about this?" he asked.

"No, I guess not." I was numb, unsure of what else to say.

"I can't believe this is happening, after everything we've been through. Zack can be so stupid." Cody gripped the banister like he wanted to bash his head against it.

My instinct was to defend Zack, despite what hindsight indicated—that the TRP had broken all records for Worst Plan Ever. Then an idea occurred to me. "Why don't you just get London to pay for the damages?" I suggested. "You know she would. She'd do anything for you."

"Believe me, I have considered it." Cody sighed again. "But my mom would never go for that. She's taken enough charity from the Tiptons already. And this isn't the first time she's threatened to send Zack to military school. I barely managed to persuade her not to after the whole fake farmboy academic probation thing." Cody reached for my hand. "I told her you were a good influence on Zack and would make sure he didn't flunk out."

Letting Cody hold my hand made me feel guilty, but he looked so sad and frustrated that I didn't want to pull away. "Don't worry, this will all blow over," I predicted, channeling Zack's confidence. "Your mom will simmer down." Then I let go and held out my arms like the good friend I wanted to be. For once Cody hugged me properly. We moved closer together on the stairs and then I was sitting in his lap.

A sudden sense of déjà vu resurrected memories of our sweet first date, our hilarious second date, our last dance at the Christmas Eve party, and that unexpected conversation riddled with allusions to _Casablanca_ which made perfect sense but still cracked a piece of my heart. These moments belonged just to us and had nothing to do with our "real" relationships.

"Bailey..." Cody caressed my hair, something he'd never done while we were dating. It wasn't my imagination—the space between our faces was shrinking. Before I could protest, Cody took another step toward destabilizing our friendship. "Do you ever think maybe we made a mistake?" he asked, his eyes stark in the glow of the deck lights. "If Zack had left Seven Seas High at the end of December, at least he would have gone home to Boston instead of been banished to military school. And you wouldn't be about to get your heart broken because I'd never screw up like this."

His words shocked me. Cody had chosen Zack over me, not the other way around. "Cody, you don't mean that," I insisted. "He would have hated us both, and you know it. Besides, you and London belong together. She needs you. Just like Zack needs me."

I stood up to leave. I wasn't going to let either one of us betray Zack, or London. Insulated by my wall of denial, I tried one more time to convince Cody that everything would be OK. "Your mom will get over this. She has to. Things will go back to normal, Cody. You'll see."

* * *

**A/N: A few lines in this chapter are directly from **_**Titanic**_**. Alex's reflection that none of her pranks have a body count pays homage to Veronica Sawyer's journal entry that begins with "Dear Diary, My teen angst has a body count" in the cult classic **_**Heathers**_**. Please read and review. Big thanks, you guys. Xoxoxo – Ellie**


	8. Ch 8: We'll Figure Something Out

**A/N: Thank you so much for all those reviews of the last chapter!

* * *

**

**Chapter 8: "We'll Figure Something Out"

* * *

**

The scavenger hunt had ended, and determined scavenger hunters straggled up to the podium, carrying pillowcases of loot, some bulging, some slack. Spencer had already announced the winner of the Hannah Montana concert tickets and after-party passes, and disappeared to do whatever cruise ship directors did when they weren't running Spring Break activities.

_Why do the losers even bother to show up?_ Alex wondered, shaking her head. _Aren't they humiliated enough?_ As she watched the final pair of hunters drag themselves onto the deck, she noticed a band of pinkish-yellow light close to the horizon. The cloudy sky had turned a pale grey. She and Bailey had been talking for hours.

Alex swivelled her seat around to face Bailey, who had fallen silent. "So what's with their mom?" she asked. "Is she some kind of psycho?"

The question roused Bailey from her quietness. "Remember 'Ranting Mom" from the Golden Netty Awards a couple of years ago?"

"The Golden Netty Awards?" Alex blinked at the name. "Isn't that a statue of a guy in his undershirt in front of his computer?"

Bailey nodded. "Yeah. 'Ranting Mom' was one of the top downloads of 2008. There were a bunch of remixes with lightning bolts shooting out of her eyes and smoke coming out of her ears."

Alex did remember these. "Yeah, I watched some clips. She was pretty freaky."

"Their mom is 'Ranting Mom'," Bailey filled in.

"Oh." Alex had a feeling she knew what was coming next.

"But I like I said," Bailey elaborated, "my gut instinct was that Carey Martin would get over the TRP." She bent her straw in half. "I was wrong."

* * *

The next evening, I knocked on the door of Cabin 8-102 to see if Zack wanted to go up the Sky Bean for our allotted half hour of freedom. He wasn't there, so I tried Cabin 8-101.

Cody answered the door and right away I knew something terrible had happened. Woody and Zack were sitting in desk chairs. All three of them looked glum.

Zack got to his feet when he saw me. "Let's go to our cabin, babe," he said flatly. "We need to talk."

Wordlessly I followed him into Cabin 8-102. He shut the door behind us. "Well, the good news is, I passed all my assignments in January, so I'm off academic probation," he said, popping his knuckles. I could tell he was nervous, which didn't happen very often. "The bad news is that my mom hit the roof when she got the bill for the broken anchor. She's sending me to Landon Military Academy, in Michigan. She says I need to 'learn the importance of discipline and authority.' I leave on Saturday when we dock in San Diego."

I was a sobbing mess before he'd finished talking. We'd only been back together for a month. How could it be that we were being torn apart again?

"I don't want to lose you, Zack," I wailed and crumpled onto his bed, banging my fists on the pillow. "I can't imagine life here without you."

He pulled me close and rocked me, stroking my hair. I felt his heart beat faster. "It's OK, babe, we'll figure something out," he said. I wanted to believe him, I really did.

"Can't somebody talk to her?" I clung to him, shaking all over. My world was literally falling apart. "Maybe Mr. Moseby could just make you a hall monitor to teach you discipline, or throw you in the brig. _I'll_ talk to her, if you want."

Zack lifted my head from his shoulder. "Believe me, everybody already tried to get through to her. Cody, Moseby, even Tutweiller." He laid me on my side and rubbed some of my tears away with his thumb. At that moment I knew we had become real star-crossed lovers, as doomed as Jack and Rose, or Romeo and Juliet.

"We'll figure something out," Zack said again. "Don't worry, sweet thang." He started unbuttoning my shirt and I tried to stop crying. If we only had a couple of days left together, every moment would count. But as soon as he kissed me, my heart kept right on breaking...

* * *

"...and basically it hasn't stopped breaking since," the red-haired girl finished, tears sliding down her cheeks. "Zack and I are still together, but I don't even know when we'll get to see each other again. I miss him so, so much."

Alex wasn't used to feeling moved by sob stories, yet this one had actually affected her. "Wow, that's brutal," she commiserated. Just hearing the sympathy in her voice surprised her.

"Oh, there's more." Bailey wiped her eyes with a napkin from a box on the counter. "This has really been hard on all of us. Woody was so guilt-ridden over dropping the anchor that he over-ate at the Mexican buffet one night and almost gassed himself to death. Cody moved into Zack's old cabin, so nobody found Woody until morning. He's still away sick. And Addison just keeps drinking smoothies all day, getting more and more manic from the sugar overload." She dropped the napkin into the garbage can. "But London and Cody have it the worst. The media scandal hit a week after Zack left, and Mr. Tipton went into hiding. Cody has to be strong for London while her dad is going through this crisis, but he's totally lost without Zack."

Bailey took a second napkin and wiped her eyes again. "Sorry for dumping all this on you, Ashley," she said sadly. "We barely even know each other."

Alex felt another wave of vibes prickle at the limits of her consciousness. The plan that had been forming bit by bit throughout this long conversation began to solidify. "You know what?" she declared. "I think I can help you, Bailey."

"What? How?" Disbelief widened the girl's watery eyes.

Alex reasserted her mysterious smile. "Just leave everything to me," she assured her distraught friend. "I'll come find you later. I promise." She hopped off her barstool and went to find Justin.

"Oh, by the way," she called over her shoulder. "Whatever happened to the 'real' Mr. Moseby?"

Bailey smiled through her tears. "He went back to the Tipton Hotel in Boston when Spencer took over the ship. Ms. Tutweiller resigned in solidarity. She moved to Boston, and they're going to get married."

* * *

**A/N: I know some of you guys are huge Carey fans, but please don' t hate me for making her seem like the bad guy here. And please read and review, as always. I love to know what you guys are thinking. Xoxoxo – Ellie**


	9. Ch 9: Frozen Assets

**A/N: Where has Justin been all this time…?

* * *

**

**Chapter 9: Frozen Assets

* * *

**

"Tipton strained peas and/or nerve gas?" Justin Russo couldn't believe his ears. "No wonder the shareholders mutinied." Thankfully, he'd listened to his gut months ago and dropped all shares in the highly diversified company from his fledgling stock portfolio.

"Yeah, the Tipton shareholders were definitely not too pleased when they discovered chemical weapons and baby food were being manufactured in the same factory." Cody took another bite of Hawaiian pizza. "But of course they do contain many common components," he mused.

Justin chewed his own pizza slice slowly. His afternoon with London Tipton and Cody Martin was turning into a very informative one. He'd managed to introduce himself to London just as her shift ended and Cody had arrived moments later. At first Justin had been disappointed that she had a steady boyfriend, but he had to admit Cody was a really nice guy and very intelligent, too. They had explored the fascinating marine paleontology exhibit, which London inexplicably thought was a jewellery store. Cody had even taken some photos with Justin's cellphone of him and London posing by a shark's head—his official photo op with the heiress. Justin knew he'd treasure the photos forever.

Now the three of them occupied a booth in the pizza parlour on the Oasis Deck. Once the pizza arrived, Justin had decided it was finally the right time to ask about Tipton Industries. He already knew much of the story from _The Wall Street Journal_. However, he felt sure Tipton's rapid and spectacular downfall was somehow linked to the supernatural strangeness he and Alex had sensed on the Sky Deck.

"Mr. Tipton just picked a bad time to take the company public," Cody continued. "The share price dropped as soon as the recession started and shareholders demanded full disclosure. That's how they discovered the factory situation and that Mr. Tipton's right-hand man had been embezzling funds."

London looked up from filing her nails. "Daddy fired him right away," she said aggressively. "He's gonna be in jail for a looong time."

"But," said Cody, "the final nail in the coffin was the media scandal at the beginning of February."

The unpleasant headlines stood out in Justin's mind. "What happened there?" he asked.

Cody and London exchanged glances, perhaps wondering if they could trust him. Then Cody answered, "Well, the official story from Tipton's Internal Investigations team is that a father-and-daughter con artist duo was on the Holiday Singles Cruise in December—Harry and Holly O'Neill, registered under fake names. They tried to scam the Tipton Hotel in Boston a few years ago and Holly leaked some stories about London to the _Global Inquirer_."

"Holly _sucks_," London interjected viciously and went back to filing her nails.

"What did they do this time?" Justin asked. He wished he could take notes. The full story would also make an ideal case study for his extra-credit project in Mr. Laritate's business class.

"Apparently Holly got severe food poisoning from bad shrimp on Christmas Eve and nearly died. So Harry was pretty upset and decided to dig up as much dirt on Tipton Cruise Lines as he could. Then he sold an exposé to the _Cruise Industry News_ website about professional negligence and woeful quality assurance standards, hence the media scandal." Cody took the second-last slice of pizza and bit into it. "The shareholders got even more upset, Mr. Tipton went incognito, and the Securities and Exchange Commission froze all of Tipton Industries' assets."

Justin looked at London, who had dozed off with her lovely head on the table. Business talk obviously bored her. "How is London taking it?"

Cody smoothed his girlfriend's hair tenderly. "She's upset, naturally, but she's been through this before," he explained. "Mr. Tipton went broke in 2005 after investing in a diamond mine and disappeared. He'll turn up eventually."

"What's going to happen to the frozen assets?" Justin inquired as he put the last slice of pizza on his plate.

"We don't know yet." Cody shrugged. "Spencer Moseby snapped up Tipton Cruise Lines just before the SEC stepped in. So far Brimmer International and St. Mark Hotels & Resorts are preparing a bidding war over the hotel division. And NASA wants the Tipton One space station."

"My sister and I met Spencer when we arrived," Justin recalled. "He gave us the most amazing cabin, but he still seems like an evil little troll."

"Oh, he is," Cody agreed emphatically. He shredded a napkin as he spoke, keeping the fragments in a neat little pile. "London's trust fund is one of the frozen assets, and Spencer acted like he was doing her a huge favour by giving her a job at the smoothie bar so she could stay onboard with her friends. It's really unfortunate the media scandal hit when it did. Mr. Tipton might have been able to sort things out with the shareholders otherwise."

"Do you have any idea how Harry got his hands on all that dirt?" Justin asked curiously, finishing off his pizza slice.

"Yeah, I have an idea," answered Cody. "But it would have happened anyway." His expression darkened noticeably, and Justin decided not to ask any more questions.

"Mr. Tipton will bounce back," Cody contended in a more upbeat tone. "Just like he did when the bogus diamond mine turned out to be an oil deposit."

Justin concurred. "The great ones always do. Just look at Donald Trump, Richard Branson, Henry Ford, Rowland H. Macy..."

Cody nodded thoughtfully. "Walt Disney, Milton Hershey, H.J. Heinz, P.T. Barnum..." He rubbed at a spot of grease on the table with another napkin. "Tipton just needs a silver bullet. It'll happen sooner or later."

"I don't want to go to work tomorrow," London mumbled suddenly. "Cody, call in sick for me."

"We'd better get going," Cody said to Justin. "Business talk bores her."

Justin grinned. "Same with my sister Alex." When he glanced at his watch, he was surprised to see it was 6:30. "Speaking of Alex, I'd better go see what she's up to. Knowing her, she's probably put blue dye in a hot tub by now or caused some other trouble."

Cody grinned back at him. "Dude, I know just how you feel." He stood up and touched London's shoulder gently. "Sweetie, wake up."

London raised her head and began to pout. "My feet hurt from standing all those hours," she whined. "I need you to carry me."

Justin was a little surprised that Cody agreed to this, but he knew he would have done the same thing himself. Although the fallen heiress was not the sharpest crayon in the box, she was exquisitely, undeniably ravishing. _Cody is a lucky guy_, he thought.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Justin," Cody said, with London drooping in his arms like an over-sized ragdoll. "Enjoy the rest of the teen cruise. I'm sure we'll see you around."

"It was great meeting you, too." Justin waved to them both at the entrance to the restaurant. "Look me up if you're ever in New York," he added.

As he found his way to the elevators, Justin reviewed his conversation with Cody and London. He definitely had enough information to write up that case study. And the big picture was clear to him now, although certain details were still missing.

* * *

**A/N: And so the "real" Holly becomes the "real" culprit from the SLOZAC episode "Have a Nice Trip." But how did Harry O'Neill stumble upon the Tipton dirt? Any guesses? Please read and review. I love to hear from you guys! Big thanks. Xoxoxo – Ellie**

**P.S. ****As a marketing & business writer, I have a deep-rooted need to incorporate business and political issues into my FF stories as a way to justify that I'm actually working when I'm writing FF.**


	10. Ch 10: No Way, Alex!

**A/N: The last chapter raised some questions. How are Bailey's story and Cody's story linked? And how did Harry discover so much dirt on Tipton Industries? This chapter provides some answers.

* * *

**

**Chapter 10: "No Way, Alex!"

* * *

**

"Justin, Justin, are you in here?" Alex called out as she rushed into their palatial cabin on the tenth deck.

Justin was sitting at a desk near the windows typing on his laptop. The sky glowed gold and scarlet through the billowing curtains. "I met London Tipton," he reported, his voice infused with excitement.

"Did you meet her boyfriend, too?" Alex asked. _No point letting Justin harbour unrealistic dreams._

"Yeah, nice guy." Justin kept on keying.

"I'm sure he's just your type," Alex snarked. She took every opportunity to tease her big brother, even when she needed to get on his good side. Pulling out a chair, she sat down beside him. "Are you doing _homework_?" she asked in dismay, as she caught sight of complicated charts on the laptop screen. _What a geek... it's Spring Break!_

"No, just checking some stuff about Tipton Industries on Hoover's company data website," he replied, tapping away. "I had a very informative conversation with London and her boyfriend this afternoon."

_Whatever_. Alex couldn't wait any longer to spill the beans. "And _I_ had a really interesting talk with that red-haired girl," she said, bouncing in her chair. "Justin, I think I've figured out what's going on here."

Justin turned to look at her and she could tell she'd piqued his interest. He listened intently as she told him what she'd learned from Bailey Pickett.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed. "Here's what I got from Cody and London..."

Alex felt like her brother was saying "blah, blah, blah" as he described share prices, newspaper headlines, and something called a Securities and Exchange Commission that she'd never heard of before. Nevertheless, she forced herself to pay attention because, although Justin knew a lot of useless stuff, he was also very smart.

Everything fit together, like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked Justin after he'd finished his story.

"The crisis at Tipton Industries and Bailey's situation are somehow connected," Justin assessed. "That con artist Harry O'Neill must have seen the confrontation on deck with Bailey and her boyfriend where Cody and London blackmailed Ms. Tutweiller and the 'real' Mr. Moseby over professional negligence. Didn't Bailey say it happened near the end of December? That would have been during the Holiday Singles Cruise." His gaze slid to the laptop screen, then back to Alex. "So Harry decided there was more dirt to dig up, and that's how he helped destroy Tipton Industries."

Alex nodded eagerly. It was one of those times where she and Justin could read each other's minds. "Everything boils down to Bailey, and that's why we felt those weird vibes coming off her."

"But the question is," she emphasized, "what are we going to do about it?"

"No way, Alex!" Justin burst out immediately. "Absolutely not!" His face turned red with annoyance. "We have to talk to Dad. He'll know what to do."

Shock and disappointment coursed through Alex. Why did her brother have to be so lame? "Justin, we don't need Dad," she objected. "We can fix this ourselves."

"We have to talk to Dad," he repeated firmly, his eyes pinned to hers. "Or the Wizard Council."

"But, Justin." She appealed to his sense of brotherly loyalty. "This is you and me. We can do this. Bailey needs our help." _How can he refuse a damsel in distress?_

Justin turned an expression of disbelief on her, much as Bailey had at the smoothie bar. "Bailey? You want to help Bailey?"

"Yes." Alex had broken many promises in the past, but her promise to Bailey was one she intended to keep. Bailey was depending on her.

"Come off it, Alex," Justin scoffed. "The only person you're thinking about here is yourself, and your own ego!"

At this Alex actually felt insulted. "You wound me with your lack of faith, brother," she accused, her lower lip pushing out. "I really do want to help her." She wracked her brain for a reason, but her only motivation was an unfamiliar sense of compassion. The broken-hearted girl was, after all, virtually a stranger, after all. "There's just something about her, Justin," she said more quietly, wishing she could explain herself better.

When the look of scorn didn't leave Justin's face, she tried a different approach. "Don't you want to help London Tipton?" _Make that two damsels in distress._

Justin's features softened slightly, yet he remained stern. "Alex, there isn't even a spell to do this kind of thing. And even if there was, do you have any idea what kind of damage it could do to the balance of things?"

Alex would not let this argument sway her. "You have the Forbidden Book of Spells in your bag," she challenged. "I know you do." It still angered her that their father had given the spell book to Justin and not her.

Justin startled at this, as she had known he would. "But there's no spell in there to do what you're suggesting."

_That's where you're wrong, brother dear_, Alex shot back silently, keeping her thoughts shielded. She debated whether or not to play her trump card, and decided not to. "OK, Justin, you're right," she conceded, breathing out a measured sigh of defeat. "We'll talk to Dad."

The self-satisfied smile that stole over Justin's face made her want to smack him. But Alex knew when to quit, and she simply transitioned to a different subject. "It's almost 7:30," she said. "Why don't we take those vouchers from your prize pack and eat dinner at that fancy restaurant on the Gala Deck? I'll bet Spencer could get us the best seat in the house."

This idea seemed to mollify Justin. "OK," he agreed after a pause. "We're not calling Spencer, though. He's a jerk." He folded up the laptop, retrieved the vouchers from his messenger bag, and the two wizards left the cabin.

[***]

Alex made the most of dinner at the Neptune Room. She demanded that the hostess seat them on the balcony facing the ocean. And since their meals were free, she deliberately ordered the special of the day, an exotic seafood platter with oysters, clams, shrimp, mussels, and lobster—the most expensive dish available. As they ate, the wizards studied the Spring Break schedule, devising plans to try indoor rock climbing on the ship and snorkeling and wind-surfing in Hawaii.

Afterwards, they explored more of the ship and watched movies on the massive TV in their cabin. Eventually Justin nodded off on the sofa around midnight. By then it was 3:00 in the morning on New York time.

As soon as she was certain her brother was definitely sleeping, Alex sprang into action.

First she pulled her wand out of her carry-on bag. "_I have a promise to keep, thus brother stay asleep_," she intoned and waved her wand at him.

Now the coast was officially clear. Alex dug the Forbidden Book of Spells out of Justin's messenger bag, where it was buried under nerdy sci-fi novels. Its black-and-red cover gleamed in her hands. She felt the book's magic pulsate into her fingers and up into her arms, a sure signal that she was destined to win the Family Wizard Competition, to become the next Russo Family Wizard. That was why Justin didn't know about this ultra-secret spell and she did.

The second-last page of the book held the content she needed. As she waved her wand over the blank page, the words appeared, wobbly and crooked, but still legible. Alex read the spell several times until it was imprinted on her brain.

"_An action needs to be done undone. Bring me to Cabin 8-201_." A third wave of the wand transported her to a cabin on the eighth deck, where her new friend and London Tipton were asleep in their beds. The heiress wore a rhinestone eye mask and was snoring softly.

"Bailey," Alex hissed, shaking the other girl's shoulder. "Wake up."

Bailey sat up in bed. "Ashley?" she asked groggily. "What are you _doing_ in here?"

Alex pulled the baffled girl to her feet and wrapped an arm around her. With a fourth wave of her wand, she uttered into the darkness, "_We have something major to check, so take us back to the Sky Deck_."

* * *

**A/N: So now we know how the two stories fit together—Harry O'Neill witnessed the confrontation scene of Chapter 19 "He's My Hooligan and I Love Him" in JOotG. Can Alex make things better? Please read and review. Thanks as always, you guys. Xoxoxo – Ellie**


	11. Ch 11: What Are You Going To Do?

**A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews, guys.

* * *

**

**Chapter 11: "What Are You Going To Do?"

* * *

**

"I'm a wizard, Bailey," Alex revealed once the two girls had arrived at their destination. "And as a wizard, my newest power is being able to tell when there's been a glitch on the space-time continuum." With her wand, she pointed to a tableau of four teens—Bailey, London Tipton, and the blond-haired Martin twins—all wearing life jackets. They stood frozen, steps from a doorway marked "Exit" in a corner of the dark Sky Deck.

"You're... you're a _wizard_?" The red-haired girl looked as though she'd seen not one but several ghosts—which in a way, she had.

Alex nodded and forged ahead. "From everything you told me this afternoon, and what Cody told my brother Justin, this is when the glitch happened. Instead of falling into the hot tub on the first day of school, you were pushed away by London Tipton." She aimed her wand at the unlucky heiress's right elbow. It angled sharply toward the figure of Bailey, dressed in boys' clothing. "This set off the chain of events leading up to today. If you'd fallen into the hot tub, everyone would have discovered you're a girl and a different timeline would have begun."

Bailey gaped at her. "What are you saying?" Her lips could hardly shape the words.

"That I can give you a chance to start over," Alex announced triumphantly. She flourished her wand, wizard power surging through her. It was the most intoxicating feeling she knew. "If you decide, right now, to move London's elbow one inch to the left, I'll say the magic words and you'll fall into the hot tub. And the past six months will be erased."

Still open-mouthed, Bailey stepped closer to the tableau.

Alex understood the girl would need a minute or two to absorb the meaning of the opportunity. Yet she felt sure Bailey would make the right decision. _But if she doesn't_, _the McReary Timereary spell will make her forget we ever had this conversation. And I'll have to take her to the Hannah Montana concert and the after-party._

"Everything?" Bailey asked, her voice almost a squeak. "Living a double life all those months? The media scandal? The disaster at Tipton Industries?"

"_Everything_," Alex confirmed. "But," she added, because she had to under Wizard Council law, "I can't guarantee they won't be replaced by other problems."

Bailey stood silently for a few moments. Then she began to walk in a slow semi-circle around the tableau, studying each figure. "Why are you giving me this chance?" she questioned. "Why me, Ashley?"

Alex hardly knew the answer herself. As much as her ego did want to pull off this epic time-reversing spell—Justin had been right about that—the rest of her felt genuinely sorry for the poor girl. It was very hard to explain. So she simply said, "I just want to help you, Bailey."

Bailey stretched her right hand tentatively toward London's elbow, then drew it back. "I'm just so confused," she murmured and took a step to the left. A second later, she turned to face Alex. "Ashley, you're a wizard, I trust your judgment." Both her tone and her eyes pleaded. "What do _you_ think I should do?"

Impatience flashed through Alex. The window in which she could use the handy McReary Timereary spell as a back-up plan was rapidly closing. "Look, I can't make this decision for you," she answered between clenched teeth. Wizard Council law also obligated her to say this.

"But what about my relationship with Zack?" Bailey asked in a small voice. Tears filled her eyes.

Alex chose to tell her the cold hard truth. "Sweetie, long-distance relationships don't last."

Bailey flinched at this and closed her eyes. When she opened them, her right hand was hovering at London's motionless elbow.

"What are you going to do?" Alex asked.

Bailey pulled her hand away. She looked to Alex. Then she extended her hand again.

Alex repeated her question. "What are you going to do?"

****The End**

* * *

**

**A/N: Stay tuned for **_**Repercussions: Part 2**_**. I'll be posting it as a new story, starting this weekend (so please add me to your Author Alerts, hint hint :) Some alternate chapters may be posted later. You guys are such awesome readers and reviewers. Thanks for sticking with this saga! Xoxoxo – Ellie**


End file.
